THE MAYOR of Calais is demanding a £17.5million compensation package FROM BRITAIN for the damage the French town has suffered from the ongoing migrant chaos.

Natacha Bouchart is blaming the UK's "lax asylum system and generous benefits culture" for attracting thousands of would-be asylum seekers to her town.

Ms Bouchart said it was "essential to ask for financial compensation to cover the economic damage" suffered by Calais and was demanding both Britain and France contribute an equal sum.

Ahead of a crunch meeting tomorrow between French and British ministers over the crisis, she said: "I'm asking for 50 million euros (£35 million pounds) because it's difficult to evaluate the economic problems we've had for more than 15 years.

"If there isn't a favourable response, I see myself having the obligation to attack, to make a legal complaint against the governments, to the authorities to ensure a compensation ruling."

It came as France applied for £1.7 million in emergency EU funding to improve conditions for UK-bound migrants currently sleeping rough in Calais.

The contents of the agreement have been kept tightly under wraps, but today Interior Ministry sources in Paris confirmed that creating more places at the Jules-Ferry migrant camp - already dubbed 'Sangatte II' - will be a top priority for the French government.

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Capacity would be increased at the Jules-Ferry camp, dubbed 'Sangatte II'

GETTY

The camp has been controversial ever since it opened

The £3million camp currently provides showers, hot meals, an advice centre, and accommodation in refurbished cabins for up to 500 women and children.

It opened amid a wave of controversy in January, becoming the first permanent structure for migrants since the notorious Sangatte Red Cross camp was shut down in 2002.

Sangatte attracted huge numbers from around the world, before being closed as part of an earlier Anglo-French agreement.

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The capacity of the Jules-Ferry centre could be increased after this agreement

French Interior Ministry source

An Interior Ministry source said: "The capacity of the Jules-Ferry centre could be increased after this agreement. More care is seen as a priority".

He said it was part of a long-term plan to make life easier for the 5,000 migrants currently sleeping rough in the Calais area as they plan their journeys into Britain.

Migrants have been making nightly bids to break into lorries and ferries at Calais and the nearby Eurotunnel entrance, with nine dying whilst attempting to make the crossing in recent weeks.

When they reach Britain most will claim asylum or disappear into the black economy.

PA

Migrants have been regularly scaling fences and breaking into the Eurotunnel entrance

Sources said that other measures outlined in the Calais deal will include a clampdown on people smugglers and securing the areas around the Channel Tunnel and Calais port, which thousands have breached this summer.

Fences are pulled down regularly, and police patrols are being bypassed, with many of the migrants managing to get across to England.

It is thought that both France and Britain are now in agreement that more humanitarian aid is needed for the Calais migrants, most of whom live in squalid and lawless camps.

AP

Britain and France are meeting in an attempt to resolve the crisis

Both governments have warned that the world is facing a "global migration crisis", which has also seen thousands of migrants drown in the Mediterranean whilst trying to make the journey to Europe.

Earlier this month, British and French politicians warned would-be immigrants hoping to make the journey across the channel that Britain's streets "are not paved with gold".

Mrs May and Mr Cazeneuve view solving the migrant crisis as their joint "top priority", and say that European efforts so far this year have smashed 17 "callous" gangs trafficking people across the Mediterranean to Europe.

Evacuation of Calais migrant camp

Tue, June 21, 2016

A growing number of migrants seeking to reach Britain are trying to leave from the Belgium and France. Here are some of the scenes from the Calais migrant crisis in France...